This invention relates to an apparatus and method for laying out construction plans onto a construction site.
Building contractors generally employ a survey team to establish the exact location of the building "footprint" on a construction site. Masonry contractors must utilize a layout team to measure the locations for all walls where concrete block foundations are required. Similarly, for example, framers must utilize a layout team to measure the locations for all walls to be constructed on a concrete slab or wood floor. These processes can be very expensive and time consuming. It is necessary to have these plans laid out on the site in advance so that the building crews may properly coordinate the building project. Heretofore, for example, a building contractor had to hire survey and layout teams to progressively survey and mark the ground or floor plans onto each floor of a building under construction. This procedure requires that the survey and layout teams finish marking each floor or level successively before other workers may begin work on any given level, creating frequent waiting periods for the other workers. Also, layout teams often mark the construction plans on the construction site using chalk, resulting in problems during inclement weather. If the chalk lines wash away, the layout teams must go through the same procedure again, slowing progress and further increasing costs. Although layout teams include skilled workers, human error may occur during the marking of the construction plans on the site, causing more problems, delays, and increased costs.
Attempts have been made to assist survey and layout crews in marking construction plans on construction sites. U.S. Pat. No. 4,836,669 discloses an apparatus and method for projecting laser light in orthogonal planes to lay out a reference grid. However, the above problems persist because a survey or layout crew is still required, and no method or apparatus for laying out the actual construction plans on the construction site is contemplated.
It is, therefore, desirable to provide an apparatus and method for quickly, easily, and accurately marking construction plans directly on a construction site, either onto the ground or onto a floor. It would be advantageous to reduce time spent on surveying, measuring and laying out the construction plans, and to eliminate mistakes, thus reducing construction costs. Practice of the invention would obviate the need for professional surveying and layout crews, allowing construction plans to be applied accurately and quickly to a construction site by a single, unskilled worker.